He called me at lunch to say that he needed to leave that night for a contract out of state.
Could I please do a load of laundry & then meet him in Tampa for dinner with his bags?
After we finished eating he said he wasn't ready to say good bye yet, did I want to go for a drive?

We drove down Westshore & admired the huge houses, picked up Bay to Bay and took it over to Bayshore where we drove the whole length of the bay, just talking & enjoying our time together.
We headed back towards Sonny's, where my car was parked & I decided to detour to my office building parking garage. Used my access card to get in & drove to the very top floor. We parked the car, got out & watched planes take off and land at the airport until we were tired of standing.
Then we sat down, with me sitting between his legs, with his arms around me. Sitting there, I didn't want the night to ever end. It was January, the weather was cool & we were picking up winds from the bay. Sitting there felt perfect, I could lean back & fit perfectly with him, neck in neck. We sat & talked for nearly an hour before he pulled me back to reality, which at that time, was a long night of driving for him.

And so we left. Back to my car. Kissed our goodbyes, made promises to talk in a few hours and drove off in our separate cars. I was driving behind him when we approached the on ramp for the highway. I merged to the southbound ramp and to my surprise, so did he. I thought maybe he was going to pick up the Veterans Expressway, but once we passed that exit & were both on the bridge towards St Pete, towards home, I was confused as to what was going on. Right then my phone rang.
It was him. Saying the job could wait, he wanted one more night with me, that he'd meet me at home, but not til after he stopped to pick up some ice cream.

That, by far, was the best evening we spent together. The hour plus in the car together, talking about anything and everything, making plans for our future together. Sitting in the parking lot, his arms wrapped around me to keep me warm. The jump in my heart when I realized he was heading south for home instead of north for work.

In my heart, that was our last night together. For the past 6 months, I've relived that night as our last. Somehow that made it all better. To know that he at least put forth the effort that night, being that he most likely knew it would be our last.

Until today. Today, when I remembered that I drove that night...and that I drove the Jeep. See, he had the Jeep for a short time, before getting the new truck. When he left for good, it was in the truck. Which means.... he came back after that trip. I had kept thinking that night was the night he left for SD, but it wasn't, it was the night he left Atlanta. Or at least that's what I was told. Bottom line though, he came back from that trip. The night that I remembered so fondly as our last, it wasn't.

I don't remember our last. I don't remember our last conversation. Our last goodbye. Our last kiss. I don't remember any of it. That really bothers me.

For some reason, our last night being so special...that made things easier to deal with for me. And now I realize that my memory was wrong. That just like the entire relationship, my memory was a scam.

The worst part is, I don't know why it's so important to me.